1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to camouflage material and, more particularly, to an improved incising arrangement for said material to produce an improved three-dimensional effect.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Camouflage material for civilian and military use has generally been found to be most effective where the material has openings and will assume a posture with respect to the equipment or persons being disguised that best simulates the surrounding grass, leaves, or the like. As is probably best illustrated in the Ruter U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,796, a sheet of material is incised with U-shaped cuts in a symmetrical pattern such that stretching the material will cause the U-shaped members to project upward in a somewhat three-dimensional effect. It has been found with incising of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,796 produces a relatively high see-through factor and, due to the tendency for the round ends of the U-shaped members to flop over or curl, to produce a somewhat flattened three-dimensional effect.
The Ekman U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,652 shows another camouflage material wherein the cutouts of different sizes and shapes, when strung together and drawn in, will produce an uneven three-dimensional effect.
Both of the above-mentioned prior art devices and other prior art devices, although possessing excellent camouflaging characteristics, such as from an airplane or the like, are not quite as realistic as is desired at closer range or on radar. The lack of realism is partially due to the tendency for the U-shaped cutouts of the Ruter patent or the spacings between the cutouts of the Ekman patent to be rounded causing them to flop or to curl. Thus, although the prior art does create a three-dimensional effect, such three-dimensional effect is somewhat flat, thereby resulting in a somewhat less than realistic visual contrast and a somewhat greater defined radar signature.